Final position — White is winning
King's Pawn Opening: Nxh7 Sacrifice
White wins in 11 moves with a decisive material gain. (Ochoa - Goncalves, Seville 1994)
The moves
| 1. | e4 | a6 |
| 2. | d4 | b5 |
| 3. | Nf3 | Bb7 |
| 4. | Bd3 | Nf6 |
| 5. | e5 | Nd5 |
| 6. | a4 | b4 |
| 7. | Ng5 | g6 |
| 8. | Qf3 | f5 |
| 9. | Bxf5 | Qc8 |
| 10. | Be4 | c6 |
| 11. | Nxh7 |
How the King's Pawn Opening: Nxh7 Sacrifice works
The King's Pawn Opening: Nxh7 Sacrifice is a classic chess opening trap arising from the King's pawn opening. In this line White wins decisive material by move 11, punishing a natural-looking but losing idea from Black.
The full sequence runs 1.e4 a6 2.d4 b5 3.Nf3 Bb7 4.Bd3 Nf6 5.e5 Nd5 6.a4 b4 7.Ng5 g6 8.Qf3 f5 9.Bxf5 Qc8 10.Be4 c6 11.Nxh7. Each move looks reasonable, which is exactly why the trap is so effective over the board — Black walks into it while trying to play "normal" developing moves.
This pattern is well known from master and correspondence play (Ochoa - Goncalves, Seville 1994). Recognising it early lets you either spring it as White or sidestep it as Black.
Practice this trap move-by-move
Open the King's Pawn Opening: Nxh7 Sacrifice in the Trapsterapp to play it out on a live board, drill it in practice mode, and learn how to avoid it when it's set for you — along with the full library of chess traps and gambits, fully offline.